Call to Order

1. Choose any one of the characters in this photograph. • List three details that might have happened on their voyage. • Then, list three details about what is about to happen in their lives. Call to Order Immigration Day 2

2. Immigration • Urban areas were being filled with immigrants and migrants from rural areas. • Began in 1870s, and many left everything they knew to pursue the American Dream

3. New Immigrants: • Many immigrants saw America as the land of opportunity and wealth. • A wave of new immigrants came from southern and Eastern Europe, as opposed to Britain, Germany, and Ireland. • Many new immigrants sought economic opportunities, while others, like Armenians and Jews, were escaping political and religious persecution.

4. Push and Pull Factors: Push Pull Attractions of another place.  Example: Jobs available in America • Reasons why a person would want to leave a place. • Example: Religious persecution

5. Immigrant Life: • Once in the US, the majority of immigrants settled in large cities where they hoped to find work and others from their homeland. • Many immigrants lived in neighborhoods with others who shared their nationality. • Immigrant groups published newspapers, owned local shops, and even opened banks.

6. Urban Life: • Urban life was difficult. • Many immigrants lived in poorly built, overcrowded apartments called slums. • They worked under exhausting conditions and often fell sick and were unemployed. • New immigrants encouraged their children to assimilate by learning English.

7. Immigrant Workers: • Many immigrant workers found jobs in cities, where about 90% of all manufacturing in the US took place. • The majority of immigrantstook low-paying, factory jobs. • The typical workweek in the late 1800s consisted of six, 10 hour days and very low wages. • Many worked in sweatshops.

8. Melting Pot • The melting pot was the idea that a blend of old cultures would form a unique, new, American culture.

9. Opposition to Immigration: • Among some Americans, there was an opposition to immigrants. • “Nativists” argued that the different languages and cultural backgrounds would prevent them from becoming good citizens. • They also held many racial and ethnic prejudices. • Labor unions feared that immigrants would take the jobs from union members.

10. The Chinese Exclusion Act • Banned Chinese workers for ten years • Chinese workers had been employed by various railroad companies and had built the Transcontinental railroad during the California gold rush. • White supremacy groups and labor unions feared that the Chinese would take away American jobs.